Truck and wheelbarrow.



E. B. PEIRCE.

TRUCK AND WHEELBABROW. APPLICATION FILED sew-23. ms.

Patented June19, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W1 TNESS: INVENTOR W @MM 54m TTORNEY.

31 "will rrrnu an. nlcmunm. muumamn. o. c.

E. B. PEIRCE.

TRUCK AND WHEELBARROW.

APPLICATION man SEPT-23.1916.

Patented June 19, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTQR BY m, 772mm,

Z6 ATTORNEY.

E. B,'PEIRCE. TRUCK AND WHEELBARROW.

I 'APPLICATIONIILED SEPT-23, I916. 1,230,769. Patented June 19, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- 1 N VEN TOR.

%'4 ATTORNEY.

E.' BL PEIRCE. TRUCK AND .WHEELBARROW. APPLICATION man SEPT-23. 1916 1,230,769. Patented June 19, 1917'.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

I J 4 J 42 j of u? WITNESS: IN V EN TORi wfiw X5 13 ATTORNEY.

*- UNITED STATES P N onn on EDWARDZB. Person, or LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

TRUCK Ann WHEELBARROW.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be itv known that I, EDWARD- B. Pnnzon, a citizen of the United, States, residing at Lowell, in the countyof 'Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certainnew and useful Improve ment in Trucks and WVheelba'rrows, of which the following is, a specification.

This invention relates to v trucks and wheelbarrows of-the kinds thatare provided .withtwo wheels on the sameaxleand with handles, by which said trucks and wheelbarrows are 1 propelled, such as rail.- road and warehouse trucks and all such trucks and barrows as aroused in railway stations for moving baggage or in freight depots for transporting freight andin mines or railway yards where rails are laid for cars.

The object of the invention is toenable the truck or barrow to be propellechnot only on a platform or on thegroundin the usual manner but to be run on the smooth surface of. a track rail where such isavailable rather than on rough, sandy, soft or muddy ground and at the same time to permit the man who is propelling the same to walk alongside of the track and not astride the rail.

I accomplish this by using a third or supplementary wheel supported at or near the middle of the axle of the barrow or truck and provided with 'fianges, to retain said third wheel on the rail.

This supplementary wheel is arranged at such an angle to the median line of the truck or barrow as, when on the track rail, to throw the handles entirely beyond the rail.

The supplementary wheel is arranged between the ordinary supporting wheels and does not reach as low as the latter so that said supplementary wheel does not touch the platform or ground when the truck or barrow is used in the usual manner and does not interfere with the customary use of the truck or barrow. When the truck or barrow is used on a rail the side wheels reaching down below the head of the rail (but not to the ground) on each side of the rail, limit the lateral inclination of said truck or barrow and render it less liable to be overturned.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a truck embodying the preferred form of my invention; Fig. 2, a plan of the same; Fig. 3, a side elevation Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1917.

Application filed September 23,1916. Serial No. 121,871.

of a barrow provided with said improvement; Fig. 4, a plan of the same with a part of the bottom removed, to show the supplementary wheel; Fig. 5, aside elevation of a truck showing the supplementary, wheel slightly invadvance of the main axle; Fig. 6, a plan of the same; Fig. 7, a side-elevation of a modification in which the supplementary wheel revolves on a sleeve secured on the main axle at an angle therewith; Fig. VS, a plan f the same; Fig. 9, an enlarged front elevation of the axle, sleeve and pulley shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the upperpart of the sleeve and pulley being in central longitudinal section; Fig. 10, a side elevation of said sleeve and pulley, showing the axle in section; Figs. 11 and 12, respectively a side elevation and a planof a modification of the truck inwhich two supplementary wheels are used, thetruck being a I in a standing position. v

'The trucks shown are of ordinary construction, except as hereinafter stated, each consisting of handles A A which are of suflicient length to form the sides of the truck, cross-bars B B B, nose C, axle D, on which the wheels E E in the customary use of the truck, revolve.

In all the trucks the supports or hangers of the supplementary wheels are represented as secured on the non-rotary axles at about equal distance from the wheels E E In Figs. 1 and Q- the hangers F F are or,

in front of the axle so that the axis of the.

supplementary wheel Gris at an angle with said axle.

The wheel G is provided with a circumferential groove 9 to receive and run on a rail. No part of'the supplementary wheel in these Figs. 1 and 2 or in the forms shown in the other figures extends beyond the curved surface of an imaginary cylinder of which the outer faces of the supporting wheels E E form the ends so that the supplementary wheel is out of contact with the surface on which the Wheels E E rest when the latter are in use. The supplementary wheel is supported in the hangers F F and rotates freely between them when the truck is running on a rail.

The barrow shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is of any usual construction'in other respects but is provided with supporting wheels and handles which are in function like those in the other figures and are therefore indicated by the same letters of reference. The supplementary Wheel G serves the same purpose, and is supported in a similar manner, by hangers F F as the supplementary wheel shown in Figs. 1 and 2 but differs from that wheel in being Wider and substantially cylindrical between the flanges g g to enable the barrow to be used on a temporary rail or timber of rectangular section.

In Figs. 5 and 6,-the hangers F F differ from \those shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in the respect that they both project forward, one being longer than the other so that the axis of the wheel G (which is like the wheel G in the last named figures) is at an angle with the axle but farther-in front of the center of gravity of the truck and load.

In Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 the supplementary wheel G is externally of the shape shown in Figs. 3 and l but turns upon a sleeve F which is stationary upon the axle and is arranged at an angle therewith, said sleeve having at one end a flange f and at the other a collar f retained on said sleeve by a setscrew f between which flange and collar said wheel is retained on said sleeve. Antifricti'on balls f are interposed between the sleeve F and the wheel In Figs. 11 and 12 a plurality of wheels (two being indicated) like those shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are journaled in a frame F secured by straps f to the axle. Using a plurality of wheels tends to prevent the rocking of the truck or barrow and assists in guiding the same.

In all cases the supplementary or track wheel or wheels are arranged at an angle to the median line ofthe truck or barrow.

I claim as my invention 7 1. The combination of a truck or barrow having two side wheels parallel with the median line thereof, of a-supplementary wheel arranged between said side wheels and at an anglewith said median line and provided with a circumferential groove to receive a rail. I r

2. The combination-in a truck or the like of an axle, side wheels parallel with themedian line thereof, a supplementary axle,

' hangers supportedon said first=named axle EDWARD B. PEIRcF.. Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, WILLIAM F. CURTIN.

Copies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

- Washington, D. G. Y 

